Page 95 - Ethel D. Hume - Bešam ili Paster: Izgubljeno poglavlje u istoriji biologije

BE CHAMP OR PASTEUR?
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structured and to be the builders of cells; and Bechamp
saw that if this were true, Virchow's theory of the cell as
the unit of life would be shattered completely. The granu-
lations, the "little bodies," would be the anatomical
elements, and those found in the limestone and chalk he
believed might even be the living remains of animal and
vegetable forms of past ages. These must be the up-
builders of plant and animal bodies and these might sur-
vive when such corporate bodies have long since under-
gone disruption.
At this point we may draw attention to the cautiousness
of Bechamp's proceedings. Although his investigations of
chalk were commenced at the time of the publication of
his Beacon Memoir, he continued to work at the subject
for nearly ten years before giving publicity to his new
observations. Meanwhile, the proverb about the ill wind
was exemplified in his case, for diseases affecting vines
were becoming the scourge of France, and led him to
undertake some experiments that were helpful in widening
the new views that he was gradually formulating.
We have already seen how in 1863 M. Pasteur had been
despatched with the Emperor's blessing to investigate the
troubles of French wine-growers. There was no official
request for Professor Bechamp's assistance, but, none the
less, with his unfailing interest in all scientific problems,
he started to probe into the matter, and in 1862, a year
before Pasteur, began his researches in the vineyard.
He exposed to contact with air, at the same time and
place (1) grape-must, decolourised by animal charcoal,
grape-must, simply filtered, and grape-must, not
(2) (3)
filtered. The three preparations fermented, but to a
degree in an inverse order from the above enumeration.
Further, the moulds, or ferments, that developed were not
identical in the three experiments.
The question thus arose: "Why, the chemical medium
being the same in the three cases, did it not act in the
same manner upon the three musts?"
To solve the riddle, the Professor instituted more experi-